Military personnel from the People's Republic of China have visited the front lines in Ukraine to gather experience for future military operations. This news comes amid reports that at least 155 Chinese citizens are participating in the fighting in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its daily analysis, News.bg reports.
An unnamed former Western intelligence official told "Reuters" that China has authorized an unknown number of military personnel to visit the front lines in Ukraine to gain real tactical and combat experience together with their Russian counterparts. The agency did not specify when exactly these visits took place.
ISW is unable to independently confirm these reports from "Reuters".
According to two anonymous US officials and a former Western intelligence officer, about 100-200 Chinese citizens participate as "mercenaries" in the ranks of the Russian army, without any direct involvement of the Chinese government. The sources emphasize that the Chinese fighters do not have special training and do not have a significant impact on Russian military operations.
ISW points out that these Chinese citizens probably signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense voluntarily, and not on orders from Beijing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian intelligence had established that at least 155 Chinese citizens were fighting for the Russian army in Ukraine.
At the same time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jiang said that Beijing had no information confirming the number of Chinese citizens who had participated in combat operations in Ukraine.
Recently, the Guardian newspaper published information that Russian structures are actively conducting recruitment campaigns on Chinese social media networks, which suggests that the Chinese government may be aware of these efforts but not interfere.
At the same time, the Kremlin has changed its tactics for launching air strikes in Ukraine. The Russian military arsenal includes long-range drones that fly several kilometers above Ukrainian cities before launching synchronized strikes with multiple drones.
Ukrainian sources report that Russian forces are launching "Shahed" drones in dense formations to overcome Ukrainian air defense systems. They also send groups of 10 to 15 drones outside cities before carrying out strikes.
Russian forces continue to modernize their "Shahed" drones, ballistic missiles, and strike tactics, making it more difficult for Ukrainian forces to destroy them.
Earlier tactics of using drones in separate waves each night are being replaced by new efforts to attack in denser formations, indicating that the Russian military considers this new strategy more effective against Ukrainian air defenses.